2008/01/31 by Zohar Nussinov, Z. Nussinov, Gerardo Ortiz +1 · 4 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Condensed Matter Physics #Azimuthal quantum number #Degrees of freedom (physics and chemistry) #Larmor precession #Quantum #Quantum critical point #Quantum dissipation #Quantum phase transition #Rare-earth and actinide compounds #Spin (aerodynamics) #Topological Materials and Phenomena #cond-mat.stat-mech #cond-mat.str-el
paper · pdf · doi:10.1209/0295-5075/84/36005
6 pages, 1 figure (to appear in Europhysics Letters)
arxiv created 2008/10/15 · openalex publication_date 2008/10/30 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Charge, spin, and orbital degrees of freedom underlie the physics of transition metal compounds. Much work has revealed quantum critical points associated with spin and charge degrees of freedom in many of these systems. Here we illustrate that the simplest models that embody the orbital degrees of freedom —the two- and three-dimensional quantum orbital compass models— exhibit an exact quantum critical behavior on diluted square and cubic lattices (with doping δ=1/4 and δ=1/2, respectively). This raises the possibility of quantum critical points triggered by the degradation of orbital order upon doping (or applying pressure to) such transition metal systems. We prove the existence of an orbital spin glass in several related systems in which the orbital couplings are made non-uniform. Moreover, a new orbital Larmor precession ( i.e. , a periodic change in the orbital state) is predicted when uniaxial pressure is applied.